ABC News Mobilizes for Election Coverage

ABC News' coverage of the 2004 presidential election will get a lift from
three new buses that are mobile TV studios.

The buses, which will be ready in December, are outfitted with cameras,
interview facilities, radio booths, wireless Internet connections and editing
rooms.

They'll allow ABC News correspondents to file from anywhere on the road and
serve as mobile bureaus on the campaign trail.

"Viewers will get access to stories they wouldn't see, or in a more timely
fashion," ABC News president David Westin said Tuesday at a press conference
outlining ABC News election plans.

The buses will all travel in tandem with a sport-utility vehicle carrying satellite and
communications equipment.

Westin said the network's coverage, dubbed "ABC Vote 2004", will emphasize both
the candidates and the nation's voters.

"Every election is a two-way street between the candidates and the nation, and
we want to put as much emphasis on the nation," he added.

ABC News lead anchor Peter Jennings will lead the network's election coverage, with
former President Clinton advisor and ABC Sunday-morning host George Stephanopoulos serving
as lead political analyst.

Political director Mark Halperin will oversee planning and content, and more
than 10 ABC News corespondents will be assigned to candidates and to covering
election issues.

ABC will also lean on 15 "off-air reporters" -- young journalists armed with
digital-video cameras who travel with candidates and contribute to ABC's TV,
radio and online properties. (The reporters are already out on the campaign
trail).

The network has been doing this since the 1988 election, and Halperin traveled with Clinton for ABC in 1992.

Other coverage details include new partnerships with the Weekly
Reader, a magazine for elementary schoolchildren, to contribute information
on the election, and with Channel One News, a daily news show for high-school
students.

ABC News reporters will appear on Channel One, and materials from Channel One
will run on ABC Radio, ABCNEWS.com (abcnews.go.com) and its streaming-video
service.